Collapsible lantern structure



Dec. 22, 1964 HIDETARO OZEKI COLLAPSIBLE LANTERN STRUCTURE Filed March22, 1962 FIG. I

FIG. 2

FIG. 4

FIG. 5

INVENTOR Hidetoro Ozeki ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,162,377COLLAPSIBLE LANTERN STRUCTURE Hidetaro Ozeki, Oguma-cho 1-7, Gifu, GifuPrefecture, Japan Filed Mar. 22, 1962, Ser. No. 181,602 Claims priority,application Japan, Mar. 24, 1961, 36/ 14,452 1 Claim. (Cl. 240-36) Thepresent invention relates to a collapsible lantern structure for alantern commonly known as a Japanese lantern.

Heretofore a particular type of such a lantern has had upper and lowerframes between which are arranged a series of horizontal rings made ofsplit bamboo and covered with paper or cloth. Alternatively, instead ofa series of separate horizontal rings, the lantern has had a coil madeof a piece of split bamboo which extends in a continuous piece from thetop frame to the bottom frame, and which coil is covered with paper orthe like. These lanterns, while they are easily collapsible by exertingpressure on the top and bottom, are rather fragile, and are diflicult tomake because of the difficulty in manipulating the parts thereof.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a lantern structurefor a Japanese lantern in which there are ribs extending substantiallyvertically of the lantern from the top frame to the bottom frame suchthat the lantern is collapsible into a long thin collapsed conditionwhen it is not in use.

Other and further objects of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following specification and claim, taken together with theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, showing a lanternstructure in a partially collapsed condition;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view, also partly broken away, of aportion of the lamp structure shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the lantern structure according tothe present invention in the fully expanded condition;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the lamp as shown in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the lantern structure in the fullycollapsed condition.

As seen in the figures, the framework for the lantern structure has atop end frame 2 and a bottom end frame 2', each of which are in the formof a closed figure here shown as a metal ring. Secured between these endframes at points equidistantly spaced around the end frames are aplurality of longitudinal ribs 1 which are resilient so as to permit ofbeing bent from their slightly outwardly curved relaxed shape as shownin FIG. 1 to a relatively sharply bent shape as shown in FIG. 3. Thelongitudinal ribs 1 can be of split bamboo, wire, or plastic. Resilientconnecting members 3 and 3' are secured to each end of each rib 1 andconnect the ribs to the end frames 2 and 2. The connecting members arehere shown in the form of coil springs 311 having a hook 3b on one endthereof which is hooked around the end frame, and the other end of thecoil spring being secured to a rib 1, for example by passing the end ofthe spring through the rib.

Over the outside of the ribs 1 is placed an expansible covering 4 havinga high tenacity, such as stretchable paper, cloth or plastic sheetmaterial, which is secured to the ribs along the length of the ribs andwhich in the relaxed condition has a shape as shown in FIG. 1. The edgeof the covering 4 is placed along the connecting members 3 and 3.

To expand the lantern fully to give it the shape in which it is to beused, the end frames 2 and 2 are pressed toward each other until theribs 1 are bent outwardly 3,162,377 Patented Dec. 22, 1964 to the pointwhere the expansible covering 4 reaches the limit of its expansion, atwhich point the lantern structure will have the shape as shown in FIGS.3 and 4. The resilient connecting members 3 and 3' will permit thepositions of the ends of ribs 1 to shift relative to the end frames 2and 2' so that the ribs 1 can adjust their positions according to theexpansion of the ex-pansible covering 4. The end frames can then be heldin the pressed in positions, for example by connecting a tension member(not shown) between them.

In order to col-lapse the lantern structure completely fortransportation and storage, the end frames 2 and 2 are twisted inopposite directions relative to each other, whereupon the ribs 1 withthe expansible covering 4 thereon are twisted around one another untilthey reach the position a shown in FIG. 5. During this collapsingoperation, the resilient connecting members 3 and 3' can stretch toaccommodate the varying movements of the different ribs 1, so that theconnections between the ribs 1 and the end frames 3 and 3' are notunduly stressed.

It will be understood that the ribs 1 need not necessarily beequidistantly spaced around the end frames 2 and 2, the equidistantspacing shown and described merely being the preferred embodiment.Likewise, the coil spring members 3 and 3' are the preferred form ofresilient connecting members, other forms being possible.

Thus there is provided a very simple collapsible lantern structure whichis easily constructed with readily available materials and is durableand collapsible for taking up minimum storage space. The resilientconnecting members which connect the ribs to the end frames are suchthat they not only take up any unduly large stresses between the ribsand the end frames, but they also permit the use of slightly varyinglengths of ribs 1 since the resilient nature of these connecting membersmakes them adjustable in length.

It is thought that the invention and its advantages will be understoodfrom the foregoing description and it is apparent that various changesmay be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the pantswithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention orsacrificing its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described andillustrated in the drawings being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

A collapsible lantern structure for a Japanese lantern, comprising twospaced aligned end frames in the form of closed figures, a plurality ofresilient ribs extending between said end frames and adapted to curveoutwardly with respect to the central axis through the two spacedaligned end frames, a connecting means at each end of each rib connectedto the rib and the end frame adjacent thereto and connecting said ribsto said end frames at points spaced around the peripheries of said endframes, each of said connecting means being a coil spring having a hookon one end hooked around an end frame for providing a rotatableconnection of the coil spring to the end frame, and having the other endsecured to a rib, whereby the coil spring tends to assume a positionsubstantially coaxial with the line between the end of the rib and theend frame and to expand and contract along this line, and an expansiblecovering secured to the ribs along the length of the ribs and beingexpansible to the fully outwardly curved condition of said resilientribs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS410,613 Sprague Sept. 10, 1889 2,732,489 Leech Jan. 24, 1956 2,796,517Herzfelder June 18, 1957 2,819,386 Linderoth Jan. 7, 1958

